The Issues of Preservation of Cultural Heritage During Military Action (By the Example of Evacuation of the Museum Collections of Gatchina and Pavlovsk in the Period of the Great Patriotic War)

This research paper looks into the problem of preservation of the cultural heritage amidst military activities (on the example of evacuation of the museum holdings of Gatchina and Pavlovsk during the Great Patriotic War). The research recreates the system of measures undertaken by the staff of Gatchina and Pavlovsk museum palaces in order to preserve the museum holdings throughout the GPW and presents a series of practical tasks for school students within the course “Russian history” on the topic “Culture during the Great Patriotic War” conforming to the Federal state standards and the Historic and cultural standards. The paper explores the peculiarities of the state policy towards cultural heritage in the pre-war period and throughout the GPW, as well as the practical measures on evacuation, conservation and preservation of the museum holdings, explores the role of the museum staff in the mission of preservation of the cultural heritage and creates a collection of historical problems for research activities for school history classes and extracurricular activities in the format of the Unified State Examination, olympiad tasks and research projects.